In Blaer's case, her mother said she learned the name wasn't on the register only after the priest who baptized the child later informed her he had mistakenly allowed it.

"I had no idea that the name wasn't on the list, the famous list of names that you can choose from," said Bjork Eidsdottir, adding she knew a Blaer whose name was accepted in 1973. This time, the panel turned it down on the grounds that the word Blaer [which means "light breeze" in Icelandic] takes a masculine article, despite the fact that it was used for a female character in a novel by Iceland's revered Nobel Prize-winning author Halldor Laxness.

Parents express themselves through their naming of children. There are many things parents do to children that are expressive. To some extent, we intercede on behalf of the children. Where would you draw the line? In this case, the child is now 15, and she says she loves her name.

48 comments:

You don't intercede unless the name is so extreme as to constitute abuse, which is exceedingly rare. Granted that's not a clearly indicated line, but it does set the bar high. To give an example there's Ima Hogg from Texas.

There are limits. Back when I was in the Army in the early 60s, I met an older officer who was born in the 30s. His name was Benito M. Linguine (not his real last name but you get the idea). Nobody asked him what the M stood for.

ErnieG said... There are limits. Back when I was in the Army in the early 60s, I met an older officer who was born in the 30s. His name was Benito M. Linguine (not his real last name but you get the idea). Nobody asked him what the M stood for.

I read in a history book about Americans named Adolf or Hitler changing their names during WWII. One grizzeled Army Master Sergeant named Adolf Hitler said, when asked if he was going to change his name, "Let the other fellow change his."

Our boys are named Isaiah and Jonah. We considered Ellington, Thelonius, Quattrocci (the Italian man who before being beheaded by Al Qaida said, "I will show you how an Italian dies,") and, for a girl, Oriana, for Oriana Fallaci.

I like having a lot of choice. The idea of having this choice limited feels like having the state step in and inseminate my wife for me.

This is all just about legal names, though. There's no particular reason one's real name -- the name by which one is known to friends and family -- has to be identical to one's legal name. At New Years, I saw one relation struggle to remember what my legal name was (she guessed wrong). It's like a social security number. Yes, a legal name is an identifier for you. But really, it's just an administrative convenience, nothing more.

Lately I've been thinking about names and most especially how when the waves of immigrants arrived from Europe many changed their names to something simpler. This allowed the melting pot to work.

Today some parents give inventive names to their children and even reinvent spellings (or just plain misspell their intended names). This handicaps kids in ways the parents just can't imagine. It is a handicap in jobs of all sorts from teenage years throughout their careers. Managers will either avoid calling an employee they can't pronounce or they'll invent simpler names.

Let's go back to the Ellis Island formulas. It has worked for many decades.

In Freakanomics, there's a section on names, and a story about a man who named his last two sons Winner and Loser (Lane). Winner turned out to be a career criminal, while Loser became a police detective.They also found evidence of kids being named Orangello and Lemongello.

This is creepy - state-sanctioned naming. Obviously there is always the possibility of parental naming abuse, like any other kind of parental abuse. But a person can always change the name legally, and refuse to answer to the stupid parent name even before majority. Honey Boo Boo doesn't seem to mind. Also, as a general rule I don't mind black naming, not all of it but the creativity of the uniquely "black" names like all the royalty names (Leroy, Reginald, Prince, Queen etc.) and mangling or complete invention of African and French names.

Ambrose is a name that has been in my family for several generations. Family legend has it that one of my forebears was given the name ad hoc by the Catholic priest at Baptism - because he disapproved of the pre-selected name that also began with "A" but was not a name of a Catholic saint.

A friend of mine taught in an inner-city middle school for a while. The first day of class he's reading down the class list, checking off everyone who's present. At the end there's still one name unchecked, Lamonne. He calls it out several times. No one answers.

But the number of kids in his class matches the class list, so he asks, "Is there anyone whose name I didn't call?" One kid raises his hand.

So we have a rigid set of rules to be followed by the Icelandic. Approved names for girls, and approved names for boys. Parents have a responsibility to exercise care, and be observant of the rules. They must be vigilant and heedful to ensure their children are not embarrassed.

And we have a revered author who uses a boy's name for a girl, and others start to do the same.

Today some parents give inventive names to their children and even reinvent spellings (or just plain misspell their intended names). This handicaps kids in ways the parents just can't imagine. It is a handicap in jobs of all sorts from teenage years throughout their careers. Managers will either avoid calling an employee they can't pronounce or they'll invent simpler names.

A few years back, my sister informed me that they'd come up with the name for their new child.